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A Billion Here, A Billion There… The attack on crop insurance Guest Column by larry Combest, retired u.s. Congressman (R-tX) Photos by Dustin landon when ConGRess neeDeD some eXtRa money to fund important nutrition and conservation programs in the 2008 Farm bill, it turned to crop insurance. Crop insurers accepted the $6.4 billion haircut to help bring the current Farm bill to life, and producers of everything from potatoes to pork to peppers applauded. it was a big sacrifice, but it was a one-time necessary sacrifice that probably wouldn’t cripple crop insurance or affect growers’ coverage. Fast-forward two years. when the administration needed to free up money for deficit reduction, the knives were again pointed at crop insurance. and those knives slashed another $6 billion out of the system. this cut will hurt, especially considering that, at the same time, the usDa-approved complicated new policies and issued costly reporting mandates on crop insurance agents that will greatly up their workload. 14 Potato Grower | SEPTEMBER 2010 CAPITOL HILL PIGGY BANK Crop insurers are hopeful that the latest funding whack won’t disrupt service to growers, but only time will tell. unfortunately, the back-to-back crop insurance cuts have sent some politicians the signal that the public-private crop insurance partnership is now a piggy bank to tap every time they need fast cash. this is a dangerous mindset as Congress begins debating the 2012 Farm bill. Crop insurance has been cut to the bone and simply cannot sustain additional atm withdrawals by lawmakers. what’s worse is that taxpayers could wind up spending much more if there is a disaster in the heartland and the crop insurance system has been neutered to the point that it can’t help pick up the pieces. Growers must remain vigilant while Farm bill negotiations are going on behind closed doors on Capitol hill and in the usDa’s whitten building because any attempt to weaken crop insurance further will hold serious ramifications in rural america—not just on the farm but for rural economies and jobs, too. the stakes are particularly high for potato growers and other specialty crop producers who do not receive direct Farm bill benefits in the form of payments. Crop insurance is a grower’s lone safety net. without strong policies, growers will be hard-pressed to obtain operating capital and will be left vulnerable to the whims of mother nature and the ebbs and flows of the market. TURNING BACK THE CLOCK most readers of this magazine can remember what life was like without a strong crop insurance system, and few would ever like to visit those days again. back in the 1980s, farmers largely shunned insurance because policies were cost-prohibitive and restrictive, and they